My pictures are confused, abrupt, adamant, honest and entirely lacking in foresight. They are born from an argument between life's experiences, subconscious impulses and my own muddled aesthetic preferences; this dialogue is strained but ongoing. They are made possible only by the depth of my illness and the gift of my sobriety. I have accepted both graciously. They are, individually and as a group, an unwitting self-portrait.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Sober Artists

Creativity in Recovery

SoberArtists.com is a web site created by a clean and sober artist for the following purposes:

To encourage other artists in recovery and provide a place to display their work.

To give credit and thanks to God for our recoveries and the talents He has blessed us with.

To bring hope, joy and inspiration to all visitors.

Recovering Artists

Art by Parker L.

Art in Sobriety, New Clean/Sober Artists Welcome

Recovering artists are encouraged to submit
their work. All mediums will be considered - visual arts, music,
poetry, sculpture, etc. The artwork can be about recovery but it
doesn't have to be. Every artist may remain anonymous. (See note below
on anonymity)

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr
The social stigma of alcoholism is unfortunately still a part of a
shame based cultural belief system. True recovery is full of courage,
hard work and miracles - there is no shame in it. Some participating
artists have chosen to remain anonymous, not because they are ashamed
to be in recovery but because of the associated stigma and the real
possibility of social and/or professional discrimination. Other more
courageous individuals are not allowing the stigma to intimidate them
into concealing their identities. They believe that by putting real
names and faces to addiction, it will help to educate the public and
eliminate the false stereotypes.